Letter to the Editor: Tunnel is a bad idea

Wednesday

Oct 10, 2018 at 8:57 AM

To the Editor:

Call it a tunnel or call it a “utility corridor,” the State of Michigan should not be planning to spend taxpayer’s money so that a Canadian company can continue to operate an oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.

The Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA) is comprised of five Anishinaabe tribes and regulates the tribal commercial fishing in the 1836 Treaty waters including the Straits of Mackinac.

The Whitefish harvested from these waters are part of our unique regional cuisine found in restaurants throughout Michigan and provide tribal members and their families with a livelihood going back thousands of years.

Oil companies in the Canadian tar sands have been trying to get new pipelines approved to export their toxic products for years however Canadian regulators have recognized the risk and denied several new pipelines in Canada. We believe that, should a tunnel be approved in the Straits of Mackinac, Line 5 will become that conduit for tar sands that the Canadian oil companies have been seeking.

Why would Governor Snyder offer to help with a tunnel that would risk our fisheries for many years into the future?

Our fishery is in jeopardy while an oil pipeline continues to operate in these waters. Decommissioning and removing the pipeline is the only way to remove the risk of an oil spill that will be the end of a way of life for all of us.